After testing out some Beetroot Brownies successfully on my flatmate, who notoriously abhors vegetables in every and any form, I decided to try my hand at a cake version! The beetroot makes you feel slightly better about your health and does wonders in making the cake rich and moist!

I decided to make things a bit healthier by cutting the amount of butter in half and substituting for an equivalent amount of Greek yogurt. I reckon you could probably get away with completely replacing the butter with the yogurt though, as this recipe does not require you to cream the sugar into the fat. Something to try out in the future perhaps!

I have also used half the sugar of the original recipe due to personal preference, feel free to double my quantity if your taste buds require more. (Test the batter before you put it in the cake tins, though be warned, it will contain raw eggs!)

Ingredients

100g/4oz Butter

100g/4oz Low Fat Greek Yogurt

250g/9oz cooked and peeled Beetroot

200g/7oz Dark Chocolate

4tbsp Espresso

135g/5oz Self Raising Flour

1tsp Baking Powder

3 tbsp Coca Powder

5 Free Range Eggs , separated

100g/4oz Golden Caster Sugar

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4. Grease a 20cm cake tin with a tiny bit of melted butter around the sides then line the bottom of the tin with a disc of baking parchment. (I had to use two 18cm tins due to leaving my big one at uni.)

2. Chop the beetroot up into 2cm chunks, place in a pan and cover with boiling water. Boil the beetroot for 10-15 minutes until tender. Drain and blend until a thick paste.

3. Melt the chocolate in a bowl over a pan of boiled water, (bain marie) pour in the espresso and mix

4. Chop the butter into small chunks, then add to the chocolaty mix. Stir until melted in! Remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly.

5. Whisk the egg yolks in a bowl until frothy. Stir this into the chocolate and butter mixture, then fold in the beetroot.

6. Whisk the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Fold in the sugar very gently with a spoon.

7. Fold the sugar and egg whites into the chocolate mixture very gently, then add the flour, cocoa powder and baking powder (sieved together.)